LG UltraFine 5K - Issues/bugs

[sziehr]

This total threw a wrench in my plans. I dumped the 15 MacBook Pro for the smaller 13 specifically cause I was going to go with a 5k monitor as part of my desk setup. I was hoping to get the best of it all.

What a disaster.

I feel for any one who is currently struggling with this mess.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

Dammit, the monitor just turned on early in the morning and woke my wife. Then it turned off again.

There is definitely bugs to iron out on this setup.

 

[daveak]

Dammit, the monitor just turned on early in the morning and woke my wife. Then it turned off again.

There is definitely bugs to iron out on this setup.

That is macOS rather than the monitor though. For some reason Apple now think that sleep mode, with powernap and enhanced notifications off means, sleep for a bit, then wake up turning the monitors on and spinning all the disks up for a few seconds then back to sleep again.

 

[Majikthese42]

Got my replacement last week for a tint issue. It's got no issues but now I'm not sure if I should send it back. I don't currently have a router behind my display but you never know how setups might change.

I guess my replacement monitor needs to go back, too!

(BTW since I placed the monitor's antistatic bag between the router and the monitor, it has worked flawlessly -- but it's obviously not a permanent solution!)

 

[Brookzy]

Do we know that every display manufactured after February 1 has the updated shielding? The quote ("... so all LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K displays manufactured after February 2017 will be fitted with enhanced shielding.") in the recode article is ambiguous.

It is ambiguous, but it would be unrealistic to think that they were still manufacturing the poorly-shielded models at the same time that they issued that press release. I think it is more likely that the ones manufactured since a good few days before that press release have the enhanced shielding.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

That is macOS rather than the monitor though. For some reason Apple now think that sleep mode, with powernap and enhanced notifications off means, sleep for a bit, then wake up turning the monitors on and spinning all the disks up for a few seconds then back to sleep again.

OK, thanks. Anything I can do short of unplugging the monitor or shutting the Mac entirely?

 

[daveak]

OK, thanks. Anything I can do short of unplugging the monitor or shutting the Mac entirely?

Not that I know of, really annoying shutting down every day.

 

[MNJohn]

It is ambiguous, but it would be unrealistic to think that they were still manufacturing the poorly-shielded models at the same time that they issued that press release. I think it is more likely that the ones manufactured since a good few days before that press release have the enhanced shielding.

This is a mess. I certainly hope that LG exercises better judgement the second time around and takes the amount of time necessary to properly diagnose the cause of this unacceptable performance and test any engineering modifications to confirm they have indeed solved the problem.

My educated guess is that the remedy displays are still in the test phase and will not be released for distribution until ca. March 1.

It will be interesting to see, given the fundamental design flaw of these displays acknowledged by LG, if Apple freezes sales and offers to replace those already sold.

 

[Brookzy]

This is a mess. I certainly hope that LG exercises better judgement the second time around and takes the amount of time necessary to properly diagnose the cause of this unacceptable performance and test any engineering modifications to confirm they have indeed solved the problem.

My educated guess is that the remedy displays are still in the test phase and will not be released for distribution until ca. March 1.

It will be interesting to see, given the fundamental design flaw of these displays acknowledged by LG, if Apple freezes sales and offers to replace those already sold.

It is inconceivable that they would issue a statement to the tune of "units made from February will be okay" had they not even figured out the problem or solution yet. Especially since 1) they stated their understanding of the cause of the problem in their statement and 2) there would be nothing lost by staying quiet on the issue, particularly as the user manual says to keep the display away from EM sources anyway.

I think we may see some input from Apple on this over the next few days.

 

[MNJohn]

It is inconceivable that they would issue a statement to the tune of "units made from February will be okay" had they not even figured out the problem or solution yet. Especially since 1) they stated their understanding of the cause of the problem in their statement and 2) there would be nothing lost by staying quiet on the issue, particularly as the user manual says to keep the display away from EM sources anyway.

I think we may see some input from Apple on this over the next few days.

It's equally inconceivable that LG would have released this product with such a blatant design flaw in the first place. But they did....

LG's statement reads "LG apologizes for this inconvenience and is committed to delivering the best quality products possible so all LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K displays manufactured after February 2017 will be fitted with enhanced shielding." Coupled with 9to5mac.com's statement "This sale runs through March 31st, after being extended, so if you have been hesitating to buy one of these screens because of the problems with the initial manufactured units, you’ll have approximately one month to buy a new UltraFine 5K Display at a discount that may include the ‘enhanced shielding’ out of the box." suggests to me that the remedy displays won't be available until March 1. Only time will tell...

 

[craig1410]

I wonder if the delivery estimate going up from 2-3 weeks to 6-8 weeks then back down to 2-3 weeks is an indication of a purge of the inventory pipeline or at least a reworking of the undelivered stock to add the shielding.

I too would be surprised if LG had made a public statement as they did, if they were still shipping the original product. I'm pretty confident that they will already be shipping reworked units.

That said, I'm not going to be the first to find out and will wait a bit longer I think. I was all ready to buy two displays but this whole mess has got me seriously re-thinking that decision.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

OK, enough of this nonsense. Display and MBP flicking on and off at any given time.

I just arranged an exchange with Apple. Wish me luck that the next one with behave like a bloody normal monitor!

 

[WordMasterRice]

Has anyone had any luck with 10.12.4 beta fixing the crash on sleep problems? My setup with 2 5K Ultrafine displays crashes quite a lot and it just isn't acceptable at this point.

 

[JTMacster]

OK, despite all the reported issues, ordered the 5K Ultrafine display that should be in the Apple Store for pickup tomorrow. When I pick it up and install, will update to see if I have any WIFI issues. Router will be maybe three feet from the unit. If I get flickers, it goes back for repair. Don't see a good alternative for my MacBook Pro, so will be at support in a major way if the product does not perform as advertised. PS. 15 inch Mackbook is running flawlessly.

 

[Brookzy]

In other UltraFine bug/issue news, Marques claims that the display doesn't actually provide a full 85W as promised and the battery drained while he was encoding video. Apparently his MacBook nearly shut down before finishing the processing. Plugging in the Apple power adapter apparently stopped the drain.

Update on this:

MKBHD has just uploaded a longer review on the LG 5K, where he expands on the above issue.

He claims that he has spoken to someone who was able to measure the power transfer from the LG 5K to the MacBook Pro, and it was 60 to 62 watts, despite that it obviously should be 85W.

He made it sound as though this person tested it on their own display, i.e. ruling out that Marques's display is defective in that regard.

Not good. I wonder if a firmware update for the display can fix this.

 

[mwalter]

It is ambiguous, but it would be unrealistic to think that they were still manufacturing the poorly-shielded models at the same time that they issued that press release. I think it is more likely that the ones manufactured since a good few days before that press release have the enhanced shielding.

I "spoke" with an LG rep over via their chat interface who told me that the ones that they are currently making don't have the upgraded shielding. S/he didn't know when they would be switching over.

Update: According to AppleInsider, LG is shipping upgraded displays already.

 

[MNJohn]

I "spoke" with an LG rep over via their chat interface who told me that the ones that they are currently making don't have the upgraded shielding. S/he didn't know when they would be switching over.

Update: According to AppleInsider, LG is shipping upgraded displays already.

I wish Apple would provide some clarity with regard to the current state of affairs and the plan forward.

 

[MrX8503]

I'm going to wait it'll the end of February before I pick one up.

 

[azntaiji]

Update on this:

MKBHD has just uploaded a longer review on the LG 5K, where he expands on the above issue.

He claims that he has spoken to someone who was able to measure the power transfer from the LG 5K to the MacBook Pro, and it was 60 to 62 watts, despite that it obviously should be 85W.

He made it sound as though this person tested it on their own display, i.e. ruling out that Marques's display is defective in that regard.

Not good. I wonder if a firmware update for the display can fix this.

I wonder if this is just a Thunderbolt 3 cable limitation. Because no one I know of actually makes a TB 3 cable that supplies more than 60sh watts of power, besides the LG 5K cable. And for all we know, they could just be BSing it.. the exact text on the 5K product listing says "A single Thunderbolt 3 cable (included) provides up to 85W of charging power".

Examples- other cables w/ wattage

• Belkin - 60W
• StarTech - 60w
• Cable Matters - 60w
• Anker - "This cable will not charge Nexus 5X, Moto Z, OnePlus 3, Huawei Mate 9, or MacBook Pro 87W at full speed."

There is this one though - supposedly provides up to 100W, but there are no reviews. So hard to tell.

Someone should test

 

[Brookzy]

I wonder if this is just a Thunderbolt 3 cable limitation. Because no one I know of actually makes a TB 3 cable that supplies more than 60sh watts of power, besides the LG 5K cable. And for all we know, they could just be BSing it.. the exact text on the 5K product listing says "A single Thunderbolt 3 cable (included) provides up to 85W of charging power".

Examples- other cables w/ wattage

• Belkin - 60W
• StarTech - 60w
• Cable Matters - 60w
• Anker - "This cable will not charge Nexus 5X, Moto Z, OnePlus 3, Huawei Mate 9, or MacBook Pro 87W at full speed."

There is this one though - supposedly provides up to 100W, but there are no reviews. So hard to tell.

Someone should test

I think this may explain it. But if it has been shipping with 60W TB3 cables this whole time then that is terrible.

I trust CalDigit - and they're shipping their TB3 docks soon so will need 100W cables for those! Hopefully someone buys one and tries it out.

 

[i1100]

I wonder if this is just a Thunderbolt 3 cable limitation. Because no one I know of actually makes a TB 3 cable that supplies more than 60sh watts of power, besides the LG 5K cable. And for all we know, they could just be BSing it.. the exact text on the 5K product listing says "A single Thunderbolt 3 cable (included) provides up to 85W of charging power".

Examples- other cables w/ wattage

• Belkin - 60W
• StarTech - 60w
• Cable Matters - 60w
• Anker - "This cable will not charge Nexus 5X, Moto Z, OnePlus 3, Huawei Mate 9, or MacBook Pro 87W at full speed."

There is this one though - supposedly provides up to 100W, but there are no reviews. So hard to tell.

Someone should test

I purchased the 1m CalDigit one and have been using for a week now - just left a review on Amazon.

It functionally works the same as the OEM one that came with the 5k as I confirmed that it is charging my 15" 2016 MBP at 85w and also supports usb devices connected to the hub. Differences is that the connector on the CalDigit one is a few mm longer than OEM, cord is slightly thicker and more rigid (also not the soft-touch feel). The collar on the connector on the CalDigit one at least seems a bit more sturdy than the OEM one. However, on the side that has been plugged into my laptop, the connector housing on the CalDigit one has developed a crack - so i am returning it.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

If you have any issue (who doesn't?) you might want to add a review here. People have lots of issue, so I guess it is kind of comforting the know we are not alone.

http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27MD5K-5k-uhd-led-monitor

Look at the review and rating section.

 

[inmotionnow]

OK, thanks. Anything I can do short of unplugging the monitor or shutting the Mac entirely?

I had issues with my mac waking up randomly even after disabling Power Nap and LAN wake. Disabling WIFI (I'm not connected via ethernet) before sleeping my mac every night has solved the issue (still annoying regardless haha). Wakes up just fine through my bluetooth keyboard/mouse (Logitech K811 + MX Anywhere 2). I keep my mac in clamshell mode when connected to the UF Display.
[doublepost=1486484481][/doublepost]

OK, despite all the reported issues, ordered the 5K Ultrafine display that should be in the Apple Store for pickup tomorrow. When I pick it up and install, will update to see if I have any WIFI issues. Router will be maybe three feet from the unit. If I get flickers, it goes back for repair. Don't see a good alternative for my MacBook Pro, so will be at support in a major way if the product does not perform as advertised. PS. 15 inch Mackbook is running flawlessly.

I did some testing with my Netgear AC1900 and only suffer from the flickering issue if the router is on my desk, right behind the monitor. If I place the router on my desk in front of the monitor or below my desk (and below monitor), no flickering.

 

[Dukat]

If you have any issue (who doesn't?) you might want to add a review here. People have lots of issue, so I guess it is kind of comforting the know we are not alone.

http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27MD5K-5k-uhd-led-monitor

Look at the review and rating section.

I find it funny that every review shows 5 stars. I am partially color blind so I assume they are coloring the stars but as they all look at same and every rating shows 5 stars I can only conclude it's a trick to make the reviews all look 5 star for those that can't see the color difference. 'creative' marketing.

 

[Brookzy]

I find it funny that every review shows 5 stars. I am partially color blind so I assume they are coloring the stars but as they all look at same and every rating shows 5 stars I can only conclude it's a trick to make the reviews all look 5 star for those that can't see the color difference. 'creative' marketing.

That is very interesting! Poor website design overlooking accessibility. Yet another area Apple excels in and doesn't get credit for. The following are screenshots from the LG site - the first is five stars and the second is one star.